Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 1;17(12):e0278768.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278768. eCollection 2022.

Effect of rest, post-rest transport duration, and conditioning on performance, behavioural, and physiological welfare indicators of beef calves

Daniela M Meléndez  1 , Sonia Marti  2 , Derek B Haley  3 , Timothy D Schwinghamer  1 , Xiaohui Yang  1 , Karen S Schwartzkopf-Genswein  1
Affiliations

Effect of rest, post-rest transport duration, and conditioning on performance, behavioural, and physiological welfare indicators of beef calves

Daniela M Meléndez et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of conditioning, rest, and post-rest transport duration on welfare indicators of 6-7 mo old beef calves following a 20-h transport. Three hundred and twenty-eight weaned calves (237 ± 29.7 kg of BW) were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 × 2 nested factorial design: conditioning, conditioned (C) or non-conditioned (N); rest, 0 (R0) or 8 (R8) h, and post-rest transport, 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h. Calves were sampled before (LO1) and after (UN1) the initial 20-h journey, before (LO2) and after (UN2) the additional 4 or 15-h journey, and at 1, 2, 3, 5, 14, and 28 d after UN2. Data was analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. Fixed effects included conditioning, transport, and time nested within rest period, while random effects included animal and pen. Greater shrink (p < 0.01) was observed in C than N calves after the initial 20-h transport. During the first week after transportation, the mean ADG of N calves was greater than C calves (p < 0.01). From d 14 to d 28, however, the mean ADG of C calves was greater than N calves (p < 0.01). Flight speed, cortisol and L-lactate concentrations were greater (p ≤ 0.05) in C than N calves between LO1 and d 5, while greater (p ≤ 0.02) non-esterified fatty acids, creatine kinase, serum amyloid-A, and haptoglobin concentrations were observed in N than C calves between LO1 and d 3. The R8-T4 calves had greater (p < 0.01) ADG than R8-T15 calves between LO1 and d 5. The R0-T4 calves had greater L-lactate concentrations than R0-T15 and R8-T4 calves (both p = 0.02) on d 1. The R0 calves had greater (p < 0.01) ADG than R8 calves between 14 and 28 d. This study suggests that C calves are better fit for transport than N calves as evidenced by behavioural and physiological parameters. Fewer and inconsistent differences were observed for rest and post-rest transport treatments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Timeline of calves were sampled before (LO1) and after (UN1) a 20-h transport, provided with either no rest (R0) or 8 h (R8) of rest, and sampled before (LO2) and after (UN2) an additional 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h transport, as well as on d 1, 2, 3, 5, 14, and 28 after UN2.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Layout of five compartments within a quad-axle livestock trailer.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Least squares-means (± upper and lower limits at 95% confidence) of standing percentage (%) during the (A) 20 h transport, (B) 8 h rest period, (C) additional 4 h and (D) 15 h transport of conditioned (C) and non-conditioned (N), calves rested for 0 (R0) or 8 (R8) h and transported for an additional 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h.
*Indicates significant differences between treatments (p <0.05).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Least squares-means (± upper and lower limits at 95% confidence) of (A) dry matter intake (DMI) and (B) body weight of conditioned (C) and non-conditioned (N), calves rested for 0 (R0) or 8 (R8) h and transported for an additional 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h.
*Indicates significant differences between treatments (p <0.05).
Fig 5
Fig 5. Least squares-means of (A) cortisol, (B and C) non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), and (D) haptoglobin (HP) of conditioned (C) and non-conditioned (N), calves rested for 0 (R0) or 8 (R8) h and transported for an additional 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h.
*Indicates significant differences between treatments (p <0.05).
Fig 6
Fig 6. Least squares-means of (A and B) serum amyloid-A (SAA), (C) creatine kinase (CK), and (D and E) L-lactate concentrations of conditioned (C) and non-conditioned (N), calves rested for 0 (R0) or 8 (R8) h and transported for an additional 4 (T4) or 15 (T15) h.
*Indicates significant differences between treatments (p <0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Blokhuis H, Jones R, Geers R, Miele M, Veissier I. Measuring and monitoring animal welfare: transparency in the food product quality chain. ANIMAL WELFARE-POTTERS BAR THEN WHEATHAMPSTEAD-2003; 12(4):445–456.
    1. Canadian Department of Justice. Health of Animals Regulations SOR/91-525, s.2. 2010. https://lawslois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._296/20100422/P... (accessed January 5, 2022).
    1. Marti S, Wilde R, Moya D, Heuston C, Brown F, Schwartzkopf-Genswein K. Effect of rest stop duration during long-distance transport on welfare indicators in recently weaned beef calves. J Anim Sci 2017;95(2):636–644. doi: 10.2527/jas.2016.0739 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cooke RF, Guarnieri Filho T, Cappellozza B, Bohnert D. Rest stops during road transport: Impacts on performance and acute-phase protein responses of feeder cattle. J Anim Sci 2013;91(11):5448–5454. doi: 10.2527/jas.2013-6357 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Meléndez DM, Marti S, Haley DB, Schwinghamer TD, Schwartzkopf-Genswein KS. Effect of transport and rest stop duration on the welfare of conditioned cattle transported by road. PloS One 2020;15(3):e0228492. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228492 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types